Parents Forum Meeting
Held on 16th January 2013
Present:
Kirsty Tickner (Yr 1)
Mandie Bailey (Yr 3 & 5)
Jan Costelloe (Yr R& 5 & 6)
Mr & Mrs Chikurukuta (Yr 1 & 4)
Jill Jenkins (Grandmother Yr R & 4)
Michelle Jenkins (Yr R & 4)
CarolineKnight (Yr 1)
Sally Twizell, Deputy Head
Belinda Lancefield, Family & Pupil Support Officer
Apologies:
Ria Ashford (Yr 1)
Karen Bungay (Yr 4)
Sally Paine (Yr R, 2 & 5)
Kerry Ellen (Yr 3 & 6)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Welcome & Introductions:
Miss Twizell welcomed everyone to the meeting and all members introduced
themselves.
2. Bins:
Mrs Carter, mother of two children in our school, had been in contact with the council
on numerous occasions and had managed to get them to move the bin from outside our
school gates in Collinge Road to the other side of the road in Brockman Road. Parents
expressed their thanks to Mrs Carter for this.
School Dinners:
The situation with school dinners appear to have improved but pupils may need to be
reminded to ask for food to be separated on the plate as the kitchen staff are willing to
do this.
School Dinner Menus:
Parents requested that menus be issued to parents in advance so that they can decide
when they wish their children to have school dinners.
They also requested that the school website be updated with the latest menus.
School Uniform:
School uniform issues were discussed and parents were informed that teachers and
other members of staff are trying to ensure that pupils come to school appropriately
dressed.
Parents were asked to speak to other parents about PE Kit as this was quite often a
problem as so many pupils did not have a PE Kit in school it was suggested that PE kit
be brought into school on the first day of each term and then either taken home
fortnightly or at the end of a term as there was no point in taking it home every day.
Sometimes PE lessons have to be taken on a different day and then quite often many
pupils do not have their kit in school.
Miss Twizell reported some of the points from the Parents’ survey recently undertaken
and one thing mentioned was that uniform was too costly. The parents discussed this
and all felt that our school uniform is very reasonably priced - although the main
problem is that so much uniform goes “missing”, even when the child’s name is written
in it.
School Gates:
Parents had been concerned that the school gates were being closed too early in the
morning. This has been addressed and gates were now not being closed until 08.45.
3. Courses for Parents
Some parents felt that all the courses run for parents were during the daytime and
hence parents who worked could not attend.
The main problem with having courses during the evening is childcare.
It was suggested that Parent Representatives speak to other parents and find out what
type of courses they would like to see run at the school and what times would be best to
be able to involve more parents.
Mrs Lancefield will produce a sheet for Parent Representatives to use to get other
parent’s views.
4. After School Clubs
There was a discussion about After School Clubs, what type of clubs, how many clubs,
age groups for clubs etc. Reception and Year 1 do not have many clubs but it was felt
that for 4 and 5 year olds the school day can be quite tiring and to then have to stay at
school until 4 - 4.15 would be too much for some children.
Parent Representatives will speak to other parents o get their views and ideas on After
School Clubs.
Mrs Lancefield will produce a sheet for Parent Reps to use
5. Reception Classes - finishing times
Some parents felt that the time between picking up their children in Reception and then
their children in other year groups was too long (15 minutes min). Miss Twizell advised
that this matter was already being discussed and hopefully by our next meeting a
decision will have been made about whether to change timings or not.
6. Other Matters
Some parents had come along to the meeting to express their views about racism within
the community.
Some parents at the meeting were not happy and said that things were still being said
about them outside the school gates by pupils. Mrs Lancefield and Miss Twizell were
usually at the school gates and were unaware that this was happening and asked that
these parents report incidents as soon as they happen.
7. Newsletter Items:
Parents asked that some matters be addressed in the school Newsletter.
Racism - they asked that Mr Kreiselmeier puts something in the newsletter to the effect
that racism of any kind will not be tolerated at Christ Church.
Facebook - they asked that a warning about putting anything on Facebook that is
derogatory to the school, staff, parents or pupils of Christ Church will not be tolerated.
Dogs Mess - they asked that parents/local residents be reminded to clean up after their
dogs and what the consequences could be.
8. Problem Solving
Overall most parents seemed to feel that if there was anything they were concerned
about, they could approach a member of staff on the playground in the morning or at
the end of the day and their concerns would be looked in to and feedback given.